Sunday, June 9, 2013
Another week in D.C...(6/5/2013)
Dear All,
Mom, of course I don't hate you for not sending hand-written letters. You send me e-mails every week so I give you permission to be a slacker every once in a while with letters.
The trips you have been on and are going to be going on sound fun! We will have to do some of these trips when I get home. Your description of the day you spent in SLC and at Liberty park sounds beautiful and I am jealous you guys are going to Yellowstone in July. You will have to take lots of pictures for me. The protest in SLC though sounded really stupid (There was an LGBT rally in SLC the day we went up). Elder Gremillion had a good laugh about the chant they were saying (2,4,6,8 All these Mormons can't be straight!) We thought it was pretty ridiculous.
I am glad you are going to Girls Camp, Mom. That is really good that Dad can come up on Tues and that you will both be there for Amanda's birthday.
So it is kind of interesting. They are replacing the carpeting in the church that I live in. I will send pictures next time, but the entire chapel was taken apart. All of the benches were in the gym and the carpet was torn up. It was pretty weird to see.
So we had some pretty amazing miracles this past week. Most of them came on Sunday. We had one of our investigators come to church. A less active member also came to church. And last but not least, a member that was starting to become less active came to church as well. Then, Monday, finally, after trying for weeks, we got into Guillermo's home.
We couldn't get in before because they were doing renovations on his house, so he hadn't been able to make time for us. So, (haha) we guilt tripped him into letting us come over. (I have had a couple of great examples in my life of guilt trips Mom and Dad) This is how we did it. Since next week is transfers (which he hates when we get transferred) I told him that I wanted to have one last spiritual experience with him, just in case I were to be transferred. It worked and we got in. So when we talked to him, at first he was ready to drop us. He told us he had pretty much lost his faith and desire to learn more. We chatted with him and answered a few of his questions. One of which was, "In your own words, explain the Holy Ghost." We were able to give our testimonies of the Holy Ghost and in doing so were able to re-spark his interest in the Gospel. He was enthusiastic and ready to make the next appointment with us. It was amazing.
Well, I have to go, but just a few last things. Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I am getting their emails, and that I am sorry that I have not yet responded.
Also, Mom, look up the song "Bless My Son". It is a country type song sung by Rita Baloche.
I love you all! Here are the lyrics:
May he have the faith of Abraham
may he have the boldness of Paul
May he have a heart like David
Always seeking God,
Always seeking God.
Chorus:
Father God, bless my son
May he grow to be a man of God.
May he have the wisdom of Solomon
May he have the patience of Job
May he be a leader like Joshua
Always full of hope,
Always full of hope.
May he have the faith of Abraham
may he have the boldness of Paul
May he have a heart like David
Always seeking God,
Always seeking God.
Chorus:
Father God, bless my son
May he grow to be a man of God.
May he have the courage of Daniel
May he have the love of John
May he know Your voice like Samuel
Always obey God,
Always obey God.
May he have the faith of Abraham
may he have the boldness of Paul
May he have a heart like David
Always seeking God,
Always seeking God.
Chorus:
Father God, bless my son
May he grow to be a man of God.
Mom, of course I don't hate you for not sending hand-written letters. You send me e-mails every week so I give you permission to be a slacker every once in a while with letters.
The trips you have been on and are going to be going on sound fun! We will have to do some of these trips when I get home. Your description of the day you spent in SLC and at Liberty park sounds beautiful and I am jealous you guys are going to Yellowstone in July. You will have to take lots of pictures for me. The protest in SLC though sounded really stupid (There was an LGBT rally in SLC the day we went up). Elder Gremillion had a good laugh about the chant they were saying (2,4,6,8 All these Mormons can't be straight!) We thought it was pretty ridiculous.
I am glad you are going to Girls Camp, Mom. That is really good that Dad can come up on Tues and that you will both be there for Amanda's birthday.
So it is kind of interesting. They are replacing the carpeting in the church that I live in. I will send pictures next time, but the entire chapel was taken apart. All of the benches were in the gym and the carpet was torn up. It was pretty weird to see.
So we had some pretty amazing miracles this past week. Most of them came on Sunday. We had one of our investigators come to church. A less active member also came to church. And last but not least, a member that was starting to become less active came to church as well. Then, Monday, finally, after trying for weeks, we got into Guillermo's home.
We couldn't get in before because they were doing renovations on his house, so he hadn't been able to make time for us. So, (haha) we guilt tripped him into letting us come over. (I have had a couple of great examples in my life of guilt trips Mom and Dad) This is how we did it. Since next week is transfers (which he hates when we get transferred) I told him that I wanted to have one last spiritual experience with him, just in case I were to be transferred. It worked and we got in. So when we talked to him, at first he was ready to drop us. He told us he had pretty much lost his faith and desire to learn more. We chatted with him and answered a few of his questions. One of which was, "In your own words, explain the Holy Ghost." We were able to give our testimonies of the Holy Ghost and in doing so were able to re-spark his interest in the Gospel. He was enthusiastic and ready to make the next appointment with us. It was amazing.
Well, I have to go, but just a few last things. Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I am getting their emails, and that I am sorry that I have not yet responded.
Also, Mom, look up the song "Bless My Son". It is a country type song sung by Rita Baloche.
I love you all! Here are the lyrics:
May he have the faith of Abraham
may he have the boldness of Paul
May he have a heart like David
Always seeking God,
Always seeking God.
Chorus:
Father God, bless my son
May he grow to be a man of God.
May he have the wisdom of Solomon
May he have the patience of Job
May he be a leader like Joshua
Always full of hope,
Always full of hope.
May he have the faith of Abraham
may he have the boldness of Paul
May he have a heart like David
Always seeking God,
Always seeking God.
Chorus:
Father God, bless my son
May he grow to be a man of God.
May he have the courage of Daniel
May he have the love of John
May he know Your voice like Samuel
Always obey God,
Always obey God.
May he have the faith of Abraham
may he have the boldness of Paul
May he have a heart like David
Always seeking God,
Always seeking God.
Chorus:
Father God, bless my son
May he grow to be a man of God.
Three miracles... (5/29/2013)
Hello All,
Thanks so much for the pictures of the house and garden. The garden sounds like it's going to be awesome this year!
It will be way cool to see how everything turns out. I wish I were there to
have some of the squash when it's ready! The yard looks super awesome!! I
don't think I've ever seen it that green before. (My companion says hi BTW)
I'm sorry to hear about Brandi (our elderly Golden Lab). That's really sad that she's having such a
hard time. :( It is hard to imagine her getting old and stiff, but yeah it sounds like she's going down
hill. :( It's too bad she might pass before I get home. :( But I know
when she goes, she's going to a better place.
My pants are getting fixed by one of the Senior couples in
the mission. She loves helping the younger missionaries in any way that she
can. So I asked if she would fix my pants and she said yes. So she's fixing
three pairs of my pants.
BTW, I can't find the type of
flosser things that I like out here. So if you could send like 6 bags of those so it would
last me a while that would be awesome. Ok not really 6, but enough to last a
while. :) Also if you could send like 5 more of my red hangers that would also be
awesome.
That is way cool that the Cooke's (Chance's new Mission President that is arriving in July) invited you to go to their
Farewell and Open House! I am so glad you have had the chance to get to know them.
Cool story time! This entire thing was set up by our Heavenly Father!! We got a text referral the other day for
a guy named Phillip King. We tried calling him like 7-8 times but he never
answered. So last Sunday (May 26th) we went to his apartment building to try and visit him. Every
apartment building has a call box that must be used to contact the residents and let them know you are outside, then they can buzz you in. Well we
were just about to use the call box when some people walked out. They held the door for us so we could just walk in
(miracle #1).
Then we went to the front desk guy and told him we were there
to talk with Phillip because he had expressed interest in our church. Normally they are supposed to screen callers and would say that no, we can't go up. They usually have to call up to the apartment first to see if it is ok. But the guy was like, "Yeah, go on up!
Just as long as he really did express interest, you're good to go. In fact Phillip
just got home."(miracle #2).
So we went up and we knocked on
the door. He looked through the peephole and asked who we were (later he told us
he thought we were cops. :) ) But he let us in right away and we were able to talk
to him about 3Nephi 11. He learned that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost
are different beings and that baptism was a commandment from God,
not just something you do you to join a church (miracle #3).
So we left him
with 2 Nephi 31 and tried to set up an appointment but he said he didn't want to
try and set something up right now because he "lives a leisurely life and
takes his time with everything". He hates being rushed. What a Chuck! (p.s.
that is lingo for being a lazy or disobedient person). But he said he would
read and to call back in a week or so. It was awesome just to have a small teaching moment.
So a scripture I really like is Mosiah 2:22 I read that and
it has just stuck with me ever since!
22 And behold, all that he arequires of you is to bkeep his commandments; and he has cpromised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth dvary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do ekeep his fcommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
Well I love you lots!
Elder Chance. (kisses Mom's cheek and wraps a pony tail around
the sink sprayer so when she turns it on the sink she gets all wet :P)
Zone Activities (5/22/2013)
Hey Guys!
It sounds like you have had a super interesting week!
The people that we're talking to/teaching right now are Guillermo and Brother Jenne. We were talking to a guy named Fredrick, but we haven't been able to get in
touch with him since the first time we talked to him. The woman he's dating keeps blocking us
from seeing him. The second time we went back to teach him, we heard her say
"I don't want them in my home. they aren't allowed to come in!" Then, she came to the door and was very nice, not snippy or anything, but
then proceeded to lie straight to our face and tell us that Fredrick wasn't
home. She said that he was in the hospital with her aunt and that she didn't know when he
would be back. Every time we have called after that, she always answers and tell
us she doesn't know where he's at. So we just keep trying.
It sounds like you guys had a fun time with the Thomsen family up in the canyon! I love dutch oven cooking. I'm sure that the kids loved the banana splits and playing with Brandi and Herc. I mean who doesn't like playing with Brandi and Herc? :)
So I'm really sorry I don't have much time left, but I will write a letter
and get all I can in there. I'll send pics now though. I love you all!
Elder Gold
(Hand written letters that arrived on 5/25)
Dear Mom,
I want to let you know that I am doing a lot better with my homesickness. I feel a lot better also.
Please tell Sairah that I said Happy Birthday! I had not time this past Wed. to e-mail her. I don't even know her e-mail. I wish I had remembered to say it when we all spoke on Mother's Day. Please tell her I love her and that I hope she's having fun. (Sairah and Caleb were on their honeymoon trip/cruise). I am so bummed to hear that her camera was stolen on the cruise. I have been praying every night that they will be safe and not have anything else stolen.
I am so happy for Jason and Rayni! (Jason is Chance's cousin, Rayni is Jason's wife). Please tell them that I said "Congratulations!" (Rayni and Jason are pregnant with their first child).
Please tell Kristin I said "Congratulations!" to her also. (Kristin is another cousin from Hawaii that just received her mission call to Odgen, UT" That is awesome!! I am way excited for her.
Thank you for sharing with me all the people that ask how I'm doing. It is nice to know that they remember me and want to know.
That is way awesome you guys are hosting an exchange student from Norway! When does she arrive? I really hope her and Amanda get along well. I think it would be great for Amanda to have someone around so she isn't by herself everyday after school.
Thank you for sharing that Elder's talk with me. (Talk on missionary obedience). It really did help me that much more. I know I can do this and I know I will succeed. I know that I was sent to D.C. for a reason. I am excited to find out what that is.
I love the pictures you send! Keep them coming! It's nice to see everyone.
Well, as for Brother Jenne, he still says he hasn't received a confirmation that everything is true, but he has been doing an awesome job at keeping the Word of Wisdom.
I will share as many spiritual experiences as I have, but I don't know they will happen every week. I am in one of the harder areas of the mission and spiritual things are sometimes few. We work hard and pray hard, but don't worry, I will share them when they come.
Love,
Elder Gold (kisses your cheek and kicks your foot sideways as you are walking.) :)
Dear Dad,
I loved your letter sooooo much! Thank you for reminding me of the strength that I have within. You have always done that and I can't tell you how much that has done for me in my life. I appreciate you so much for your love and the things you have taught me.
Dad, I know that you have been struggling with some things recently. I have felt bad, so I prayed in extreme faith that you could get through these struggles and have a successful outcome. So when I read that that these things were resolved happily, I started crying because I knew that Heavenly Father had answered my prayers. I was so happy. I am sorry you had to go through it though. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us because he does things like that to prove it.
I am so happy that you had such a great missionary opportunity with the young man visiting from back east. I know 100% that a seed has been planted in his heart, because you and Mom are great missionaries. I will pray for him that he will have a chance to meet with the missionaries someday.
I love you so much Dad, and I hope you know how unconditionally I do.
Thank you again for being such a great example to me. I am so proud of you for being such a steadfast example for us.
Love,
Elder Chanceman
(Hand written letters that arrived on 5/25)
Dear Mom,
I want to let you know that I am doing a lot better with my homesickness. I feel a lot better also.
Please tell Sairah that I said Happy Birthday! I had not time this past Wed. to e-mail her. I don't even know her e-mail. I wish I had remembered to say it when we all spoke on Mother's Day. Please tell her I love her and that I hope she's having fun. (Sairah and Caleb were on their honeymoon trip/cruise). I am so bummed to hear that her camera was stolen on the cruise. I have been praying every night that they will be safe and not have anything else stolen.
I am so happy for Jason and Rayni! (Jason is Chance's cousin, Rayni is Jason's wife). Please tell them that I said "Congratulations!" (Rayni and Jason are pregnant with their first child).
Please tell Kristin I said "Congratulations!" to her also. (Kristin is another cousin from Hawaii that just received her mission call to Odgen, UT" That is awesome!! I am way excited for her.
Thank you for sharing with me all the people that ask how I'm doing. It is nice to know that they remember me and want to know.
That is way awesome you guys are hosting an exchange student from Norway! When does she arrive? I really hope her and Amanda get along well. I think it would be great for Amanda to have someone around so she isn't by herself everyday after school.
Thank you for sharing that Elder's talk with me. (Talk on missionary obedience). It really did help me that much more. I know I can do this and I know I will succeed. I know that I was sent to D.C. for a reason. I am excited to find out what that is.
I love the pictures you send! Keep them coming! It's nice to see everyone.
Well, as for Brother Jenne, he still says he hasn't received a confirmation that everything is true, but he has been doing an awesome job at keeping the Word of Wisdom.
I will share as many spiritual experiences as I have, but I don't know they will happen every week. I am in one of the harder areas of the mission and spiritual things are sometimes few. We work hard and pray hard, but don't worry, I will share them when they come.
Love,
Elder Gold (kisses your cheek and kicks your foot sideways as you are walking.) :)
Dear Dad,
I loved your letter sooooo much! Thank you for reminding me of the strength that I have within. You have always done that and I can't tell you how much that has done for me in my life. I appreciate you so much for your love and the things you have taught me.
Dad, I know that you have been struggling with some things recently. I have felt bad, so I prayed in extreme faith that you could get through these struggles and have a successful outcome. So when I read that that these things were resolved happily, I started crying because I knew that Heavenly Father had answered my prayers. I was so happy. I am sorry you had to go through it though. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us because he does things like that to prove it.
I am so happy that you had such a great missionary opportunity with the young man visiting from back east. I know 100% that a seed has been planted in his heart, because you and Mom are great missionaries. I will pray for him that he will have a chance to meet with the missionaries someday.
I love you so much Dad, and I hope you know how unconditionally I do.
Thank you again for being such a great example to me. I am so proud of you for being such a steadfast example for us.
Love,
Elder Chanceman
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First Tracting Baptismal Invitation (5/15/2013)
Hello All!
Everything is going great! I was afraid that I might be homesick after our Mother's Day call,but I'm not. Ever since I talked with you on the phone I have been feeling really good about
myself and I haven't been feeling homesick anymore. I know that my Heavenly
Father has a lot to do with it (if not all of it) but you guys and President Matsumori helped me so much.
I had an opportunity to talk with him yesterday (5/14)
and he expressed to me that he loved me a lot and he knows the missionary I will be. He told me that since he knew that I was going to be such a strong
missionary he put me in an area with multiple challenges. He's sorry that I had struggled, but he has faith in me. He told me that he believes that Chevy Chase is one of the harder areas of the mission, but to keep working hard. He told me that he knew I would be a great leader in the mission! I appreciated hearing his words of counsel and love.
After we met with President Matsumori, we
went home and worked on updating the area map. We had planned on tracting all day
and just talking to people, but President Matsumori said that in our area, tracting is not the best use of time. He said we could tract, but not all day. He gave us
permission to go and do family history work when we needed something to fill in
the day. He encouraged us to visit the members but not for too long of a time
and do the best that we can. So we spent about an hour working on our area map
and then had lunch and then went tracting.
We pulled up to a street and we
were going start tracting in one direction, but then decided to go another. So we knocked on the
first door and didn't have any luck, no one answered. At the second door we knocked
on, a guy opens the door. We told him that were going around and sharing
a message about Christ. So he goes to get the owner of the house. The owner comes to the door
and we tell him the same thing and a little more and we asked if he had 5min of
his day that we could come in and share this message.
Guess what?..... HE
SAID YES!!!! It was a fantastic miracle! We went in and started talking to
him and he was sooooooo prepared to hear the message. He was telling us things
that paralleled what was in the Book of Mormon, like about
the corruption that was in the world and how families are being torn
apart by worldly things. Also how much he thought serving other people was
important. So we shared different scriptures with him that showed him that that
is what we believe also! He understood it all.
Because of time, we ended up
teaching him a condensed version of the restoration. He had recognized
the different holes (gaps) in the Bible and when we explained the great apostasy,
it made sense to him why those gaps are in the bible. It was an amazing experience! Then on top of
it all......(drum roll for effect) We extended a baptismal date to
him and he accepted!!! June 9th baby!!! And then we also taught him about prayer and asked him to pray. He did it!! Oh
man it was awesome!
Then on top of that we visited one of our
etern-i-gators and asked him to commit to live the word of wisdom. He accepted also and we put him on a conditional
baptism date for June 2nd!! Holy smokes! Yesterday was full of miracles!!
Also pockets ripped in both my grey and
pinstriped pants. I'll see how much it is here to get it fixed and if it's
too expensive I'll send it home.
As for my journal, I'm still writing in
it, but it's about every other day. I'm trying to be better about it. I'll do
what I can.
I love you. Thank you for fasting and praying for me! You
have no idea how much it's helping me!
Love Elder Gold
First Tracting Door to Open... (5/8/2013)
Hello All!
I was sad to learn about the death of Justus Lawrence's wife. I remember Justus and Mickey Lawrence from when I took Karate lessons. That's so sad that she died giving birth to her sixth child! I will really be praying for him :(
What a super small world!! I can't believe that Theo (the guy we have been hanging out with on P-day here in D.C.) is the same guy that Michelle and Kevin Wilkinson know from their ward. (Mark was Kevin's MTC teacher. Liz posted a couple of pictures and Michelle and Kevin recognized the guy in the pictures with Chance.) Amazing all the
different random connections that there are! Yes Theo is the one that
took us site-seeing a couple weeks back. He is a way super cool guy! I seriously felt like he was my
brother after hanging out like twice! I dont think he was a student though. He got
back from his mission last October. He was working at Walmart for a while and
then he got married and they moved.
That is so cool that Caressa (cousin from Hawaii) got called to Jamaica! I know they say it is a tough mission, but I know
all about that. Everyone is either Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim. I'm jealous
that she gets to go some place like that though because she'll probably have a lot larger teaching pools than I
will, which will be a way cool experience for her!
So this week we had someone FINALLY say yes to us at the
door! He said that he has lots of friends that are Mormons and that
he really respects us for what we're doing. So he said that we should call him in a week and we would set something up. Then he gave us his business card! It was
way cool!
Then on a smaller scale of miracles, that same day had been
raining off and on. We were heading back to our house (it wasn't raining at
that point). Then in the ten seconds it took us to go through the church and
into the apartment, it started pouring! Ha! The Lord provides!
Also as you may have already gotten from my letter, I got a
new companion named Elder Gremillion. He's 6' 8" tall and really funny! We get a long really well and he has really helped me to become a
better missionary. I'm still terrified to talk to people door to door and
on the street, but I'm getting batter at it! kinda..
Also we had an interesting meeting with a convert of about
18 years named Brother Vlach. He was converted by the spirit but did not understand the gospel.
so he had no testimony of the church or of the Book of Mormon, nor of Joseph Smith as a prophet. So he had
some pretty hard questions that Elder Gremillion handled like a pro! I just
added my testimony in where I could and answered some of the easier
questions. We also committed him to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. We testified to him that if he did that, a lot
of his questions would be answered. So we plan on going back to re-teach the
missionary lessons to him.
Well I love you all and I can't wait to talk to everyone on Sunday!!! (Mother's Day)
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